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Path: utzoo!watmath!idallen
From: idallen@watmath.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.unix
Subject: Fun (?) with SH.  (Surprising behaviour...)
Message-ID: <7356@watmath.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 23-Mar-84 16:55:48 EST
Article-I.D.: watmath.7356
Posted: Fri Mar 23 16:55:48 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Mar-84 08:17:48 EST
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 19

What does this line in a Bourne Shell command file print, when called
with the command arguments "1 2 3 4"?

   sh -c "/bin/echo And $@ were my arguments."

Answer:

   And 1

Why?  Because of the way "$@" expands, the command line becomes:

   sh -c "/bin/echo And 1" "2" "3" "4 were my arguments."

The invoked shell silently ignores the "2" and all following arguments,
and it executes "/bin/echo And 1".  I suppose this variation on the
expansion of "$@" makes sense (?!), but what reason is there to silently
ignore the following arguments?  (p.s. To fix the problem, change @ to *.)
-- 
        -IAN!  (Ian! D. Allen)      University of Waterloo